# Volume Profile

> A price-by-price histogram of where volume actually traded, with the Point of Control and a shaded Value Area.

Volume Profile turns the chart on its side: instead of volume per bar, it shows **volume per price** — a histogram anchored to the right edge, one row per price band, over whatever lookback you set. Where the rows are long, the market spent size; where they are short, it passed through. Those thin patches are the levels price tends to travel back across quickly.

Two levels are marked on it. The **Point of Control** is the single busiest price in the window. The **Value Area** is the band around it holding the chosen share of the window's volume — 68% by default — with its upper and lower bounds badged on the price axis as VAH and VAL.

## Adding the indicator

Open the chart settings panel and use the **Add** button in the Indicators section. The profile draws behind the candles so it never hides price action.

## Settings

| Setting | Options | What it controls |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lookback | **Fixed depth** (default), Visible range | Profile a set number of bars back, or whatever is currently on screen — the visible-range mode rebuilds as you scroll and zoom. |
| Depth | **200** bars (default) | How far back fixed mode reaches. Disabled under visible range, which takes its window from the viewport. |
| Levels | The row count | How finely the price axis is divided. More rows resolve more structure; fewer read more cleanly. |
| Volume | **Total** (default), Buy, Sell | Which side to profile. |
| Value Area | **68%** (default) | The share of window volume the area must hold. |
| Width | A share of the pane | How far the longest row reaches across the chart. |
| Show POC / VA / VAH-VAL | On by default | The level lines and their axis badges. |

## Reading notes

- **Buy and Sell profiles are real, not estimated.** Because the tape carries true trade sides, profiling one side alone shows where that side actually transacted — something a profile built from bar direction cannot offer.
- **A bar's volume is spread across the rows its range covers**, in proportion to how much of the bar sits in each. A bar that closes in one row lands wholly in that row.
- **Ties resolve downward for the Point of Control** and upward when the Value Area expands, matching the reference implementation traders will have used elsewhere.
- **A sparse profile's Value Area can stop short of the target percentage.** When the rows on both sides of the area hold no volume at all, it stops there rather than reaching across a gap to manufacture the number.
- **Replay is supported**: the profile fills in level by level as the day unfolds.